It is indeed something that can't be explained when we go through the horrors of human evil. We all have a good side and also a bad one. Those who acted in the name of authority felt they were not doing harm, just executing orders. The human mind is fascinating because of its immense power of denial. Of twisting reality.
I can't imagine how it must have felt to walk on that land. Knowing all the history. The dandelion.... A sign of life moving on on the ashes of the dead. A sign of beauty in the middle of a quiet scene of horror. We have to look back at history and continuously learn. So we don't forget what people can become under worst conditions: heroes or brutes.
!ENGAGE 20
I wonder how many were able to be taken so far mentally that they truly believed in what they were doing - not just carrying out unpleasant orders.
It isn't about remembering the dead as much as remembering not to kill the future for those to come. We can't save the past, we can improve the future.
I do think about what you said. How many people who harmed others like that actually question themselves. Is there any remorse at all? It is frightening to see that some might not regret doing evil. It is troubling. I guess this is how some people are. Oblivious to their own wrong doings.
Maybe - but I would suspect that those who survived past the war started to see somewhat of a different world than they were raised in - remembering that many of the Nazi soldiers and supporters were conditioned from quite young to believe certain things. At some point in some places, it was considered normal to own slaves and treat them as animals - people are quite messed up and cultural programming for superiority doesn't help matter.
Conditioning is mostly responsible for the human behavior. Indeed it all starts since childhood. If a parent or a sort of authority makes the child feel and act in a certain way, it will have repercussions in the adult life. Parents who criticize their child or being aggressive end up traumatizing him, making him fell he will never reach to their expectations. On the other side, positive reinforcements and a kind, caring attitude makes the child feel safe, loved and gives them courage to try without the fear of being judged, criticized. Conditioning.... It has been happening since the beginning of time and it creates the people that we have to deal with now. I can only imagine how much work it has to be done with someone who has been conditioned in a negative way and bring them to the good side. It explains the difficulty in making people willing to change themselves. I think about the elephants in a circus. They were conditioned since they were babies to obey when in fact they could have the power to crash the entire room if they would be aware. The power of early conditioning. Making you feel you are small and powerless. The same thing happens with humans. Different specie, same mental tricks.